


queen of nothing; king of the world

by lorspolairepeluche



Series: Mass Effect: the Combined Universe [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Other, Rating May Change, make that rating WILL change bc there's gonna be some Good Stuff later, ok technically duke's not The Shep here, so the relationship tags are a little hand-wiggly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-16 17:14:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11833320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorspolairepeluche/pseuds/lorspolairepeluche
Summary: aka How Duke Got On While Cade Was On Omega (Spoilers: Not Too Well)While Cade Shepard is away helping to reclaim Omega, Duke Wilder faces personal crises of their own.





	1. you put your head in my hands

Duke stopped just next to the bar at Apollo’s, scanning the tables for whoever had sent them that email asking to meet. He said he’d be in Alliance uniform…

“Hey, kid.”

“Hi, Thyta,” Duke said, giving her a glance before going back to craning their neck. “Did you see a guy in Alliance BDUs?”

“Back corner,” Aethyta answered immediately. “He’s been waiting.”

There. Crew cut like any good soldier, three days’ worth of stubble, looking out at the Presidium as if staring right past it. “Thanks, Thyta.” Duke gave Aethyta a wave and headed for the table, reviewing what little they knew of Garrett Anderssen. He was a Gunnery Chief who enlisted in the Alliance Navy a few years before Hannah did, around the time Duke was born. Never climbed the ranks; seemed pretty comfortable where he was. And he’d sent them an email out of the blue, asking to meet on the Citadel.

“Chief Anderssen?”

He looked up and immediately stood, holding out his hand. “Thank you for coming.”

Duke shook his hand. “So why did you ask me to meet?”

“Have a seat.” He gestured to the chair across from his.

Duke cautiously sat, surreptitiously checking their exits. Cerberus wasn’t likely to try anything right after a failed coup, but with Cade out of the picture for a couple days, who knew. They looked back to Anderssen to find him staring at them. “There something on my face?” they asked, slipping into sarcasm.

“No—no, sorry.” Anderssen looked down at his folded hands on top of the table, even as his callused thumbs rubbed against one another. “I…thought you looked familiar. Never mind.”

“We haven’t met, have we?”

“No. No, we haven’t. And that is something I regret.”

“What?” Duke folded their arms, leaning back. “Do you know me?”

“I don’t. I’m sorry. I know your mother. Or I knew her. I heard your name, and I wondered.”

“Wondered what?” Duke asked, shoulders tensing. This was going nowhere fast, and the feeling that Anderssen was stalling was creeping up their spine.

“Jesus, there’s no easy way to say this,” Anderssen said into his hands. He looked up, fixing Duke with grey eyes.

“I’m your father, Duke.”

It was an armored punch to the chest. Thirty years of “Dad” being an abstract concept that Duke had no real grasp of—and here he was. Sitting in front of them. Looking like them.

What a _prick._

“Okay, what gives?” Duke blurted. “Why now? In the middle of a war? This isn’t an overdramatic Blasto vid, Anderssen. Is this one of those stupid reality shows where they prank people, because it is in _really_ poor taste—”

“No, I swear it’s not. I’m really your father. Well. Your biological father, anyway. Did Hannah ever get married?”

Duke’s anger was only mounting. He dropped this on them, then had the gall to ask about their _mother?_ “No, she never got married, asshole! And why would you care? You just got her pregnant and left! Why? Did _you_ get married?”

“Yes.”

Duke gaped at him for three full seconds before putting their face in their hands for another two to contemplate the overload of information. “You got married. After knocking my mom up and running off.”

“I did. I loved Rachel. Very much.”

“Oh, and did _Rachel_ know about me and my mom?” Duke snapped, looking back up.

“Eventually. I told her before we were married. She said I should contact you, at least, if not Hannah too.”

“And you didn’t,” Duke said flatly.

“No, I didn’t.” At least Anderssen wasn’t defending himself. “I was too guilty still.”

“And, uh, when did you marry Rachel?” Duke asked, mock-casual.

“Twenty years ago.”

Duke let out a bark of mirthless laughter. “It had been _ten years_ since you ran out on Mom, and you _still_ couldn’t fucking let me know that hi, you _exist?_ ”

“I had…a lot of trouble with it. I was a teenager, just like your mom—”

“Don’t you _dare_ compare yourself to my mother—”

“And now I’m older. I’ve had three other kids.” Anderssen took a deep breath. “And now you’re the only one left.”

Duke took a moment to process that. “I’m sorry, _what?_ I’m the only one left? Did Rachel divorce you or something?”

“No. She died.”

“And the kids?”

“Them too. In the initial attack on Earth. Their shuttle was shot down as they were trying to escape. I—I saw it—happen.” Anderssen’s shoulders hunched, as if he were trying to curl in on himself, and Duke realized with a jolt that he was shaking with suppressed tears.

Duke watched him for several moments, incredulous and speechless, as Anderssen reined his emotion back in. “Here,” he said finally, his voice still a little choked. “I have a holo of them.”

Duke watched, stony-faced, as Anderssen pulled up a picture from his omnitool, showing Duke a trio of teenagers. The oldest boy had the youngest on his back, and the girl was reaching up to give her older brother bunny ears.

All three of them had the exact same nose and hair as Duke.

They didn’t notice the stinging at the back of their eyes until several fat tears had spilled over. They hastily scrubbed at them with the back of their hand for a moment before mumbling, “I—I need to go,” and standing. They made their way—well, they weren’t sure which way, at least not until their hands landed on the bar.

“Kid?” Another hand rested atop Duke’s—a blue hand. “Hey. Duke,” Aethyta said gently. “You’re okay. It’s okay. Here.” She pushed a glass into Duke’s other hand. “Drink.”

Duke obeyed. It was the wrong kind of burn, not alcoholic, but freezing. Just water. Icy water that snapped them back to reality, back to Aethyta looking concerned—a definite rarity.

“You okay?”

“He’s my _dad,_ Thyta,” Duke blurted.

“I asked if _you_ were okay,” Aethyta said.

“I’m fine,” Duke said, waving Aethyta’s concern away with a shaky hand. “Just a little…”

“Shellshocked?” Aethyta asked, and Duke nodded before taking another gulp of water. “I bet. Sorry it got dropped on you like that.”

Duke slowly lowered their glass, eyes locked with Aethyta’s. The glass hit the bar with a soft clunk, and Duke’s two words were even quieter. “You knew.”

Aethyta looked away first.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Duke demanded.

“I wanted you to judge him for yourself. Meet him before you knew who he was.”

“Meet him before I knew that he’s the asshole who knocked my mom up and then never contacted us?” Duke’s hand, shaking a little, started to raise the water to their mouth again.

“Duke,” Aethyta said quietly. “You have to remember—I did the same thing. To Nezzie and Liara.”

The glass slammed down, sloshing onto the bar, and Duke backed up two brisk steps. “I should get back to the Normandy. It’s almost my shift to have the deck. Goodbye, Matriarch.”

Their feet carried them away from the bar, their mind full of storm clouds. They hadn’t lied to Aethyta; it _was_ almost their turn to stand in for the CO. A few of the core team had taken to sharing that duty whenever Cade was away, and Duke was set to relieve Kaidan in less than half an hour. But they could get back to the Normandy and be ready for their shift in ten minutes flat.

A soft beep from their omnitool broke through the gray swirling in their head. They brought the wrist with the bracelet up, flicking it to activate the omnitool and see the notification—a single file waiting to be accepted and downloaded. They flicked past the ping, looking to who had sent it—

They looked up to see a back in Alliance uniform departing Apollo’s in the other direction, and the table where they’d met Anderssen was vacant once again.

Duke looked back down to their omnitool, finger hesitating to tap the _decline_ button. It shifted an inch to the left—and pressed _accept._

The picture of the three Anderssen children grew to full size as it downloaded onto their omnitool. A caption popped up beneath it: _Bennett carrying Westin, Emily with them. 2185._

 _Bennett, Emily, Westin._ Duke felt a sting behind their eyes again at the sight of them. Half-siblings. _Siblings._ Two brothers and a sister that Duke would never meet.

They closed the holo and started back for the docking bays.


	2. when it all fucks up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> or, How Duke Dealt With The News They Have A Dad (Spoilers: Not Too Well).

“Kaidan.”

He turned to see Duke entering the CIC, pulling their hair into a bun. “Hey. So who was the guy who wanted to meet you? A fan?”

“I don’t have fans, just adoring worshippers,” Duke answered mock-dismissively, but they gave Kaidan a look and a tiny shake of their head, and he dropped the question.

“You have the deck, Wilder.”

“I have the deck.”

“Logged,” EDI’s disembodied voice chimed in. “Specialist Wilder has the deck.”

“Get some good sleep,” Duke called after Kaidan. “It’s in short supply.”

“You’re telling me,” he chuckled, right before the elevator doors slid closed and Duke settled in for a long watch with Anderssen on their mind.

—

“ _SSV_ Shasta _, you are cleared for departure._ ”

“ _Thank you, Citadel Control._ Shasta _out._ ”

Duke watched on the vidscreen they’d set up in the galaxy map’s usual spot as the docking clamps retracted and the dreadnought backed slowly out of its bay to start its trip to the Horsehead Nebula. _I wonder if Anderssen’s on that ship._

A sharp, frustrated noise escaped them as they caught themself thinking about him again, and they stood up straight from where they’d been leaning their elbows on the railing in front of the vidscreen, switching it back to the map. Stars popped into place in front of them as they checked the time on their omnitool watch. 0730 hours. Half an hour till Ashley took over as deck officer. It had been a boring shift; Duke had taken to cleaning out and organizing the holo album on their omnitool until the single picture of Bennett and Emily and Westin popped up, then listening to news reports until the anchor started talking about Councillor Valern honoring the sacrifice of a drell who died during the attempted coup, then watching ships dock and depart until they’d zoned out enough for their mind to wander back to Anderssen.

“Wilder to Williams.”

“Williams here.”

“Ash, do you mind taking the deck a bit early? I’m beat, and I don’t wanna fall asleep in front of the galaxy map.”

There was a pause of a second, in which Duke knew Ashley registered that they were lying, before she answered, “I’m on my way.”

—

Duke nearly launched themself off the couch, frustrated at their restlessness, pissed off at Anderssen, and internally railing at themself for doing _nothing_ , fucking _nothing_ , about what they’d found out. No further research on Anderssen; were they fucking scared of what they might find? His service history was _right there,_ they’d fucking looked him up before they met him; why hadn’t they taken a closer look? It wasn’t like they’d find him on the _Normandy’s_ manifest. Where the fuck had he even been the whole time he was pretending Duke didn’t exist?

Fuck trying to sleep with him on their mind. Duke grabbed the shirt they’d thrown over the back of the couch and yanked it on, tugging their hair out from under the collar even as they left the observation lounge they’d claimed as their own.

They used the men’s bathroom more often than not these days—it was closer to port observation, and EDI had long since learned that Duke did what they pleased with regard to gender and no regard for a confused AI. They waved their omnitool at the door and entered before the door was fully open.

There was a shower going as Duke turned on a sink and ran their hands under the water until it was freezing cold. They didn’t hear said shower turn off as they scrubbed their face with a chilly washcloth.

“Lobo?”

They looked up in the mirror, washcloth still in their hands, face still wet—and froze.

James Vega, wearing only a towel around his hips, hair and body still wet from the shower, was standing behind them.

 _Now, of all times? Fuck._ Duke buried their face in the washcloth again. “What do you need, Vega?”

“Nothing,” he said, recovering admirably as he stepped up next to them at the other sink. “Just never seen you using the men’s room before. Didn’t expect to.”

“Why, cause I’m five foot three and have tits?” Duke asked acidly.

“Well, I guess that assumption seems dumb, yeah. Since you’re not, you know. A woman.”

Duke let out a breath that might have been a laugh. “No shit.”

Vega paused with a can of shaving cream in his hand. “Hey. You okay?”

“No,” Duke admitted. “I’m not.”

“Anything you wanna talk about?”

“Maybe later.” Duke gave their face one last good wipe with the washcloth before tossing it on the towel rack again, yanking the tie from their hair, and re-doing their bun, determinedly not looking at Vega’s bare chest or his concerned eyes. “I’ll be in the main battery if anyone needs me.”

—

Duke turned their mug around and around in their hands, the metal reflecting the dim light where it wasn’t covered by the cozy tucked around it. They liked the main battery. It was quieter than the rest of the ship; most of the sounds were beeps from Garrus’s console or Noel’s muttering to himself and the machinery he worked on.

“Thanks for the coffee,” Duke said abruptly.

“Brought it while you were napping on Garrus’s cot,” Noel answered absently, pulling up a technical readout on his omnitool to take a quick glance at it before reaching back into the metal amalgam inside the casing.

“I don’t know how you drink it like that,” Garrus commented. “It’s sweetened enough to turn my stomach even if it weren’t levo.”

Duke didn’t give a reply, sipping more of their coffee and staring at the machinery in front of where they sat in the battery.

“Hey. Duke.”

They looked up a second after the constant blips and whirrs of Garrus’s calibration stopped. “What?”

“I don’t know what happened, but it’s gonna be okay.”

“You don’t know that.”

Duke had the distinct feeling that Garrus and Noel shared a look over their head. “No, but we know you,” Noel said. “I have for ten years now. Since Mindoir. And you’ve always been strong. You’ve always pulled through. After Elysium, after Haliat, after Saren, after Jaden, after the Collector base.”

“You’ve always been right there leading the charge if Shepard wasn’t,” Garrus chimed in. “You’ll get back on your feet. I know you will, even if you don’t.”

“Have you heard from your dad?”

The question had his mandibles flaring and his head shaking a little in surprise. “I—no, I haven’t.”

“He was on Palaven, right? No word since we left Menae?”

“None. Have you heard from your mom?”

“Not directly, but she commands Hackett’s ship. She made sure he let me know she’s all right as soon as he could. She tried to contact me after they escaped Arcturus, but it was too late. Reapers had already hit Earth.” Duke takes another gulp of their coffee, mug clutched in both hands. “I asked about your dad because—well, you know I’ve never met mine.”

“Yeah.”

“That changed. Earlier today.”

Garrus’s mandibles fluttered again as Noel fixed Duke in his sight, trying to read any sign of how the meeting had gone. After three years of working with them and ten since meeting them, it was easy to see his answer: not well. “And?”

“And he’s Alliance Marines too. Enlisted before I was born, which explains why he didn’t know about me at first. He knew about me by the time I was ten, though; I know that.”

“Why now?” was Noel’s soft question.

Duke finally looked up, smiling tightly. “I had three half-siblings. Two brothers and a sister.”

“Had?” Garrus echoed.

“Had. They died in the initial attack on Earth. I didn’t know about them until today. Bennett, Emily, and Westin. Here—” they started fiddling with their omnitool to avoid Garrus’s silent pity and Noel’s concern. “I have a holo.”

Were their eyes always going to sting when they saw those three static smiles? Were tears always going to start falling whenever they saw that Emily’s hair lightened from root to tip just like Duke’s?

Noel’s tools clattered to the ground, and he covered the space between them in seconds, pulling Duke close and hugging them. Duke wrapped an arm around him too, fighting hard to keep down the sobs bubbling in their throat.

Garrus stayed where he was, fixing Duke with that level, grave gaze as they tried to glare back and ended up just staring helplessly. “You should talk to your mom,” he said finally.

Duke gave him only a noncommittal noise in answer.

“You’ve been pretty out of sorts even before you met your dad, and you haven’t talked to her since you got off Earth. She should hear from you, Duke. And…you should tell her you met your dad.”

“And then call Jack,” Noel suggested. “She understands you. Always has.”

“Jack’s got her students to worry about,” Duke murmured, pulling their knees up to put their elbows on and put their face in their hands. “She doesn’t need to hear about my problems.”

“She’s your girlfriend, Duke,” Garrus reminded them frankly. “Yours are probably some of the only problems she wants to hear about.”

Duke managed at least an attempt at a smile as they dropped their hands. “I dunno. She’s _dependable_ now. And she blames me for it.”

“C’mon, Duke,” Noel cajoled.

“All right, all right,” Duke was saying before Noel had even finished. “I’m going.” They pushed themself to their feet, gulping down the rest of their coffee. As they passed Garrus, he tugged them into a quick one-armed hug. It was a little uncomfortable to be pressed against turian armor, but the extra squeeze just before he let go made it worth it.


	3. my head in the stars; my feet in the sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> communication across space doesn't always alleviate the loneliness

The hologram was small comfort compared to Hannah’s actual presence, but the sight of the admiral’s stiff pose softening into folded arms and a cocked hip when she saw who was calling her was enough to make Duke subconsciously relax too.

“Mom.” A galaxy of cares washed away in the one word. “I’m sorry I didn’t call before now.”

“You better be.” But Hannah’s voice held no real malice. It never did for Duke. “Running around curing genophages and foiling coups without me? You get all the fun. I just get to listen to Steven strategize.”

Duke let out a soft laugh. “Try keeping a krogan warlord, a turian Primarch, and a salarian dalatrass from each other’s throats.”

“Ooh, I don’t envy you that one, kiddo.” Hannah studied her child for a moment. “You didn’t call me just to bitch, did you?”

All those cares sank back onto Duke’s shoulders. “I met my dad.”

“Garrett? You met Garrett?”

Duke’s blood froze, even as Hannah’s hand jumped to her mouth. They regained their voice after a second, strangled and restrained. “You always told me you didn’t know who my dad was.”

“Duke, I hadn’t seen him since before I knew I was pregnant; I didn’t think it mattered. I didn’t think he mattered.”

Duke exploded. “Didn’t think it _mattered?_ When every kid I knew growing up had two parents and asked me why I only had one? When ‘daddy issues’ was thrown around behind my back as soon as the other enlisted men knew I didn’t know my dad? When he showed up at Apollo’s yesterday and—” Duke broke off, reining in their breath and emotions. “We shouldn’t be doing this on a military channel. I’ll…I’ll call you later.”

“Okay.” Hannah didn’t argue. “I love you, Dukey.”

“I love you too, Momma. It’s just been…hard.”

“I bet,” Hannah said softly. “You’re getting all the tough shit too. Remember to breathe once in a while, okay? And maybe call your mom every so often too.”

Duke managed a smile for Hannah. “Yeah, okay. I will. Wilder out.”

“Call me when you’re ready. Wilder out,” Hannah echoed, and her image blipped out of the comm room.

Duke leaned on their hands against the console, letting out a heavy breath as their shoulders hunched. They didn’t quite know who they were angry at. Anderssen? Hannah? Themself? Didn’t matter. Anger wasn’t helping. Stuck on the _Normandy_ , waiting for Cade to get back while urgent messages and distress calls poured in from every corner of the galaxy—no, anger wouldn’t help here. Not Duke’s anger, at least.

“EDI, where are the biotics from Grissom Academy that Shepard assigned to support roles in the Alliance Navy?”

“The students have been divided to support various squads on various fronts,” EDI responded promptly. “Do you have a specific person you are trying to locate?”

“Jack. Where’s Jack?”

“Jacqueline Nought is with several of her students, currently orbiting Tuchanka aboard the SSV _Xi’an._ ”

“Tuchanka?”

“Yes, Wilder. Since the curing of the genophage, Urdnot Wrex has agreed to let Tuchanka orbit be a recovery for units who have seen battle, thanks to the Citadel Demilitarization Enforcement Mission based on stations orbiting the planet. The stations have very little to do now that the krogan are rejoining galactic military efforts.”

Duke found themself smiling. _Wrex being hospitable. Go figure._ “Can you connect me to the _Xi’an_? I’d like to speak to Jack.”

“Yes, Wilder. Connecting you now.”

Another hologram panned into view, head-and-shoulders of a young man in Alliance uniform. “SSV _Xi’an._ ”

“ _Xi’an,_ this is _Normandy._ Is there a woman by the name of Jacqueline Nought aboard?”

“Specialist Nought is off-duty at the moment. I’ll see if she’s available.”

“Thanks.”

The comm officer’s head disappeared, and Duke leaned against the console again to wait. It was only a minute or so before—

“What in the hell do _you_ want?”

Duke was already grinning when they looked up. “Only to hear your dulcet tones, babe.”

Jack’s grin answered them. “Quit trying to butter me up; it won’t work.”

“That’s only cause it already did.”

“Asshole. I miss you.”

“God, I miss you too, Jack.” Duke _ached,_ wanted to vault the console and take Jack in their arms, hug her so tight they’d never be separated again, but they knew they would pass right through the hologram. Jack was light-years away. “I miss you so goddamn—” The tears were starting far sooner than Duke would have liked.

“Babe,” Jack laughed. “You don’t need to cry about it. I’m pretty close, right? Only a relay away. Get Shepard to come to Tuchanka again; say there’s some diplomatic shit—”

“Cade’s away; we’re stuck on the Citadel.”

“So hijack the _Normandy_. You’ve done it what, three times before?”

“Twice. And Cade would rip my head off. No, I can’t, it’s just…”

“Hey. What happened?” Jack’s voice was tender in the way she reserved for Duke and for her rescued varren Eezo, and Duke trusted that voice in the same way Jack had trusted theirs.

“I’m alone.” Duke only realized the truth of the statement as they said it. “Cade’s off somewhere, Noel’s always tinkering with something, you’re not even on the Normandy—everything just feels _wrong_ and I feel wrong and I just can’t—” Duke cut the spill of words off, pressing a hand to their eyes. “And I’m thirty fucking years old, and I should be _better_ than this, but things just keep getting dropped on my head and I can’t _take_ it anymore, I can’t _fucking_ take it.” They drew in a shaky breath. “And yesterday, just before my shift as deck officer, my fucking _dad_ showed up.”

Jack listened. She didn’t interrupt, didn’t question, as the story of meeting Anderssen, of finding out who he was to them, who _they_ were to _him,_ of Aethyta and Hannah already knowing, of the holo of their dead siblings, of every single emotion fighting inside them. “I don’t know what to feel, ever, anymore, and then there’s _Vega_ and I just feel so alone, Jack.”

“Who’s Vega?”

Duke sucked a breath in through clenched teeth. “Lieutenant James Vega. You met him once. He was at Grissom with us. He’s one of my crewmates. Before that—he was a glorified prison warden.”

“And what’s up with him? Is he messing with you?” Jack’s arms unfolded, her hands balling into sharp, dangerous fists. “Do I need to come over there and—”

“No, it’s—it’s just the opposite, Jack. Shit, I…” Duke couldn’t look at her. “I have a fucking crush on him, like I’m fourteen or something.” They swiped a hand across their wet eyes. “Even when he was supposed to be keeping me locked up, he was…he was _nice_ ; he would let me out to get exercise, sparred with me when I needed to fight something… He saved my life. He stopped me when I was chucking a chair at the window with nothing but a hundred-foot drop beneath it. And now we’re on the same ship and I can’t stop thinking about him and—and, and, and, _and_! Jesus fucking Christ!” Duke’s voice had risen to a shout, but now all the frustration disappeared from them, only helplessness in its wake. “I just…I just need you here, Jack.”

“Do you have a picture?”

The first one that came to mind was the holo of Bennett and Emily and Westin, and Duke looked up, opening their mouth to voice their confusion—

“Gotta see the guy before I can give my blessing, dumbass.” Jack raised an eyebrow, a smile turning up a corner of her mouth. “C’mon. Gotta know if he’s good enough for you.”

Dazed, Duke flipped to the Normandy’s crew manifest, pulling up Vega’s profile and magnifying the accompanying picture. It didn’t do justice to him, not like the tight T-shirt he wore on the ship, not like the bulky armor in which he could still move so effortlessly. The formal beret covered up the short mohawk Duke had shaved into his head on a whim once, the mohawk he had declared he liked and would keep before carefully shaving their undercut once more. “This is him.”

Jack studied the holo with narrowed, scrutinizing eyes. “That’s the one? Yeah, I remember him. Talks big. And from what you say, can follow up on it too.” She nodded slowly once, then firm. “Bang him.”

Duke’s jaw dropped.

“You heard me,” Jack said. “You and I both know the sex will do you good, and so will having someone. Can’t let you go wilting on me while I’m away. Bang him all you want; I can share. Just ‘cause I can’t be there doesn’t mean you gotta be lonely like this.”

“Jack?” Duke asked in a strangled voice.

“Hey.” The hologram of Jack got slightly bigger, as if she were leaning on her own console, trying to get that tiny bit closer to Duke across the light-years. “Don’t you ever fucking forget how much you mean to me. Even if you start hating yourself, even if everything seems like it’s way too fucking much and you’re gonna collapse—remember that we’re out here fighting for each other. We’re fighting for our goddamn future. The future that you and me are gonna make for ourselves. The future you promised me could exist. That’s what we’re fighting for.”

And across the light-years, Duke heard what Jack was saying. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is from the same song as the fic title: "King of the World" by First Aid Kit!

**Author's Note:**

> i promise it all works out well enough.
> 
> the fic title is from "King of the World" by First Aid Kit; this chapter's title is from "The Mother We Share" by CHVRCHES


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